I’m also reading Mutual Aid and Conquest of Bread by Kropotkin and it’s marginally better but still takes me a while to get through a page. I’m baby.
Anarchy Works by Peter Glendroos is probably the most readable intro anarchist theory, it's a lot more contemporary than Kropotkin et all
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/peter-gelderloos-anarchy-works
The table of contents reads the the FAQ of those unfamiliar or against anarchism
Introduction
Anarchy Would Never Work
What exactly is anarchism?
A note on inspiration
The tricky topic of representation
Recommended Reading
- Human Nature
Aren’t people naturally selfish?
Aren’t people naturally competitive?
Haven’t humans always been patriarchal?
Aren’t people naturally warlike?
Aren’t domination and authority natural?
A broader sense of self
Recommended Reading
- Decisions
How will decisions be made?
How will decisions be enforced?
Who will settle disputes?
Meeting in the streets
Recommended Reading
- Economy
Without wages, what is the incentive to work?
Don’t people need bosses and experts?
Who will take out the trash?
Who will take care of the elderly and disabled?
How will people get healthcare?
What about education?
What about technology?
How will exchange work?
What about people who don’t want to give up a consumerist lifestyle?
What about building and organizing large, spread-out infrastructure?
How will cities work?
What about drought, famine, or other catastrophes?
Meeting our needs without keeping count
Recommended Reading
- Environment
What’s to stop someone from destroying the environment?
What about global environmental problems, like climate change?
The only way to save the planet
Recommended Reading
- Crime
Who will protect us without police?
What about gangs and bullies?
What’s to stop someone from killing people?
What about rape, domestic violence, and other forms of harm?
Beyond individual justice
Recommended Reading
- Revolution
How could people organized horizontally possibly overcome the state?
How do we know revolutionaries won’t become new authorities?
How will communities decide to organize themselves at first?
How will reparations for past oppressions be worked out?
How will a common, anti-authoritarian, ecological ethos come about?
A revolution that is many revolutions
Recommended Reading
- Neighboring Societies
Could an anarchist society defend itself from an authoritarian neighbor?
What will we do about societies that remain patriarchal or racist?
What will prevent constant warfare and feuding?
Networks not borders
Recommended Reading
- The Future
Won’t the state just reemerge over time?
What about other problems we can’t foresee?
Making Anarchy Work
Recommended Reading
It Works When We Make It Work
I'm right there with you fam, I've been getting into theory lately and its making me realize that my brain is not in the shape for political theory. I find that it's like lifting weights though - you have to start with something easier like YA fiction, then graduate to adult fiction with complex themes and political undertones, then onto modern theory, then finally classical theory, skipping tiers if you feel like it. I could barely get through the Communist manifesto until I got back into reading after a long break with The Hate U Give, and after I finished that I blew thru the manifesto in half the time and remembered more.
Graeber can be either really, really simple theory or seven layers deep in academia, but he's very very nice to the reader.
Parenti has a bit of a historical axe to grind (don't we all) but what I've read of his stuff is pretty easy to follow.
A lot of theory unfortunately falls into the same issue as most modern lib academia(not blaming the writers as they are literally made to do it that way to get good grades), written in a needlessly complex way that makes it a pain in the ass to read until you have done enough of it to get used to it.
Aw, Malatesta's one of my favourites because he writes how I think. There's also fellow synthanarchist Faure's Anarchist Encyclopedia - the full version you can find online in the original French, though there's an abridged translated version out there too
If you’re having the same problem I have, /r/COMPLETEANARCHY on Reddit suggested the TVTropes page on Anarchy, and I can personally attest it’s really good and readable!
